Whether it is the '20s or the '90s, fashion designers constantly summon past eras to inspire new collections. Thom Browne decided to go back even further—to the 1500s. "The collection is loosely based on Elizabethan clowns," Browne told us. "Loosely based, but there's a lot of reference to Elizabethan detailing."

Hours before his runway show we met him backstage as seamstresses were still sprawled on the ground sewing pleated confections, makeup artists were just starting to roll in, and models were bare-faced, eating salad lunches. The girls soon transformed into what looked like reincarnations of the Queen of Hearts from Tim Burton's Alice & Wonderland, complete with faces painted all-white, cherry red lipstick, and voluminous beehive hair.

The opulent 16th-century inspiration was clear via high-collared conical necklines, wide hips and shoulders, and pleated V-shaped silhouettes. "There's a lot of draping in some of the pieces, draping in a way that makes the body dysmorphic," Browne explained. "It takes a woman's body and exaggerates her curves."

The designer has a reputation for theatricality in his shows, and spring 2014 was no different with padded asylum walls, headless bodies hanging from the ceiling, and models progressively turning more deconstructed and zombie-like as they marched down the catwalk.

Aside from a few spots of navy, Browne's dramatic collection was all-white. He explained, "I've been wanting to do an all-white collection for a while for just the challenge in creating almost 40 different things that don't look similar. There is depth in using all white, and there is just something really beautiful about it."

The designer, who began his womenswear collection in 2010, stayed true to his menswear roots by presenting intricately structured jackets. "I think I've learned and evolved in just working with a woman's body, but also not forgetting how much I love tailoring. I'm marrying the two but making sure the tailoring looks very feminine and very interesting on a girl."